5th Day of the 1st Fire Cycle[1], 2000 g.c.
The Sycamore Tree of Endora—one of the Twelve Great Wonders of Arcadia and the largest flora on the continent—was breaking apart at its seams because of me.
Three thousand and two feet of eldritch sycamore wood groaned like an ancient Fey getting its ribs split open. The bark cracked in violent, zigzagging fractures that spiderwebbed halfway up the skyscraper-sized trunk. Demolition sounds rang out from multiple interior levels—deep, concussive booms that felt like the world's heartbeat stuttering.
Spatial Mana bled from the rifts.
It wasn't subtle either. It poured out in shimmering ribbons—liquid geometry, violet and teal light spilling from the seams of reality itself. The inner dimensions of the exposed floors were realigning with the outside world because the inside couldn't sustain the magickal output of my aura anymore. My presence was too heavy. Too loud. The pocketed miles of space folded inward, collapsing under the pressure of Omnis Mana saturating the air around me.
More gaps split open along the walls. Nightlight flooded into the darkened arena in clean, silver shafts. Clusters of converted magitons drifted outward through those fractures like invisible freight being exchanged between worlds. It looked like a ghost trade happening—mana going out, raw atmosphere coming in. The battleground was crumbling all around me. And Taurus was still throwing hands.
The Zodiac Key packed absolute force behind his knuckles. Every punch warped the air before it even reached me. Gravity bent in shallow crescents with each swing, space folding in concave distortions where his fists cut through it. He was moving at the speed of light. At least relativistic by mortal standards.
But to me? That nigga couldn't have been any slower.
I watched his shoulders tense before each strike. Saw the twitch in his triceps. The slight dip in his weight distribution telegraphed everything. When the first punch came for my jaw, I tilted my neck an inch. The wind pressure alone shaved the tip of a dreadlock from my temple.
Second swing—smooth shoulder shift.
Third—subtle back step.
His knuckles roared past me, warping the air in violent spirals. The shockwaves detonated sections of cracked stone behind me, but I didn't even flinch. My waist-cape flowed gently in a breeze that didn't exist.
"Pathetic," I muttered, barely moving my lips.
The canopy above us ruptured.
The rifts that had carved up the bark finally reached their peaks, and the ceiling of the Tree shattered like stained glass. Thirty-four different interior floor dimensions collapsed into our shared reality at once. The sound was apocalyptic—wood screaming, stone imploding, entire architectural wings losing their spatial anchoring.
Then it rained.
Trillions of broken interior fragments—stone, pillars, furniture, staircases, chandeliers, entire sections of hallway—fell like a meteor shower into what used to be the Fighting Pits. Without the Sycamore's spatial magick pocketing miles of matter, all that debris was about to become annoying.
I wasn't in the mood to let that happen. Taurus swung again—wild this time, irritated. I stepped inside his guard. My palm snapped upward into the underside of his muzzle. The crack of impact echoed like a cannon misfiring.
His head snapped back, teeth clacking as silver ichor sprayed from between his lips. Before his body could react, my right hook came around and folded his torso sideways into a massive slab of collapsing wall.
The concrete disintegrated.
Micro-debris exploded outward in a gray mist, pulverized on contact. His body ricocheted off the air itself as gravity scrambled to catch up with the violence. I vanished—
—and reappeared in front of him mid-spin.
My heel drove into his ribs and sent him hurtling into a descending section of falling floor levels.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Boom-boom-boom.
The crashes echoed so tightly together it sounded like one long subtraction of sound—like thunder being erased instead of created.
He didn't know it, but I was using him. Every time a massive slab of stone threatened to crash into the arena floor, I redirected his ragdoll body into it. His momentum shattered pillars. His spine crushed through beams. His wings carved through descending balconies like divine scissors. The speed I bounced him around at created streaks of chrome and pink light across the sky. From below, it probably looked like a force field made of motion. Not a single rock made it past me.
Not one.
For minutes, the air was nothing but a continuous crash of explosions and shockwaves. My boots never touched solid ground as I redirected him again and again, cleaning the sky like a janitor with god-tier reflexes. Eventually, gravity finished claiming what remained of the Tree's upper half. My umbrella project was done.
With one upward-spike kick, I launched Taurus straight into the night sky at hypersonic speeds. The shockwave cratered the pit beneath my feet as he vanished into a thin streak against the stars.
I followed casually. I met him at his zenith, high above the exposed stump of the Sycamore. For a fraction of a second, he floated there—stunned, silver blood drifting around him in glimmering beads.
"Foot Dive!"
He heard me yell as my boots struck his chest. Momentum reversed instantly.
We became a meteor. He screamed as we plummeted. My foot drove him downward faster than gravity could process. The exposed center of the Sycamore Tree stump rushed up to meet him.
Impact.
The crater bloomed outward in a violent ring of cracked stone and uprooted wood. A cyclone of wind followed, blasting dirt and debris outward and clearing the sky above the arena.
When the dust settled, the night was... open.
Countless stars glittered overhead. Gaia's planetary rings shimmered in pale arcs, reflecting faintly across the torn bark. The three moons hung on the western horizon, casting soft silver light, while the neighboring planet Trappest burned low in the east—a wash of red-orange glow bleeding into deep blue shadows. The palette painted the sky in hues of purple, sapphire, and green against a black-violet canvas.
It was lowkey beautiful.
But I couldn't even enjoy it.
Fresh, soggy forest air rolled in from the treetops fifteen hundred feet below, slapping against Luda and Alex's faces.
"Well, I'll be damned," Luda breathed.
Alex's voice trembled. "Di-Did he just break the whole tree?"
The former 35th Floor now served as the makeshift roof for the thirty-four levels that remained beneath us. The Fighting Pits had been reduced to half its original width, still suspended fifteen hundred feet in the air on the remaining stump of the Tree.
"He changed the entire battlefield while beating Taurus's ass," Luda said, shaking his head.
"If we're being honest," Alex admitted, staring at the crater, "I couldn't keep up with what was happening. Xi was moving too fast."
Inside him, Danica's voice chimed softly. "I'll help you next time. Big Bro Xiro has excellent spatial control, allowing him to exceed natural speeds. I bet we can do something like that."
Alex's eyes flickered with intrigue before Luda's voice pulled him back.
"If we're keeping it a hunnid, I could have defeated Taurus. If Xiro's current amount of power is enough, then it was in my range."
"Wait, you can amp up that much?"
"With my [Journey of Ra], I believe I can. But unlike Xi, that would be my limit for now."
"I thought I saw Xi's max power earlier tonight," Alex murmured. "Apparently, he's even stronger in his Trance form."
Inside Luda, Roxy's voice sharpened. "Wait, did he just say that Sonata Zero can access [Trance] already?"
"Yeah. Xiro first used it during our last run-in with Taurus. Xi told me he couldn't access it again afterwards, but according to Alex, he's fixed that issue."
"If the Sonata Syn Cores can handle fifty percent of God Qi without a crescendo," Roxy whispered, "then Omnia was right... The Abraxas Code was the answer."
"The Abraxas Code? Roxy, baby girl, I'm going to need you to tell me about everything you're talking about. What is this Abraxas Code?"
"Of course, my King…"
While they had their quiet revelation, I stood at the edge of the crater, looking down at Taurus's broken form.
"You done wasting my time?" I called out calmly, "Tell me, who's stronger than Orion within your organization?"
He looked terrible.
Silver ichor dribbled from the corners of his mouth. His wings were torn, one bent at an unnatural angle. Omnis Mana still poured from my aura in thick, prismatic currents—Ascended Mana laced into every strike I'd given him. That divine energy didn't just bruise flesh. It damaged the soul as well.
He coughed up another blot of silver.
"Are you stupid?" he spat. "Why would I tell you anything, Devil?"
I rolled my eyes. I reached down and grabbed him by his horns. He tried to resist, but his strength wasn't there. I lifted him out of the crater like a misbehaving calf and forced his gaze to meet mine. [Heaven's Kaleidoscope] activated. Gankyrils snapped over my irises with a metallic click, spinning like galaxies folding inward. The colors in my vision fractured and reassembled into divine symmetry as I cast [Who Is Jill Scott: Absolute Hypnosis]. His pupils dilated. His will folded.
Next came [Detect Thoughts]. With his psionic blockers offline under my hypnosis, his mind opened like a filing cabinet left unattended.
Paradiso.
The Choir of Heaven.
Archon Laniakea.
Orion's plans.
Information streamed into me in luminous threads—golden and silver pathways weaving through my consciousness.
I was about to dig deeper—
—but a foreign presence intruded through the Crest of the Zodiac Keys embedded in his Soul Frame.
"That's enough, imitation Archon of Night."
The voice carried authority. Cold. Measured.
"You may have the core of the Abraxas, but I still consider you a shell of the original Xero."
I smirked slightly. "Orion, I presume. Don't go too far, bitchboy. Once I finish with him, you're next."
The Crest of the Zodiac Keys flared spiritually hot as my [Detect Thoughts] flickered its connection for a moment in resistance.
A violent force followed, shoving me out of Taurus's mind-space. The connection snapped. I released his horns. He dropped to his knees, shaking his head, breathing raggedly.
"I knew Orion was lying about spying on us through the Crest," he muttered bitterly. "But I have to do something about this Devil's irregular strength. There shouldn't be any more Demon Lords this strong."
"You caught your breath, fat boy?" I said, cracking my neck slowly. "It's time for us to wrap this up. I gotta beat your bossman up next."
Taurus had outlived his usefulness.
It was time to shut the book on our personal war.
For good.
The open night air felt almost gentle against my skin. Warm. Soft.
It was wild, considering my aura was still blazing like a star on the verge of collapse. Indigo-cerulean flames licked off my shoulders and back in slow, ethereal currents. My mana signature pulsed outward in tidal waves, heavy and cold at once—like the void had learned to burn. Any mana-sensitive being across Arcadia felt it. I knew they did. The dark chill of my presence rolled across the continent like a storm front. Mages in distant towers paused mid-incantation, a few dropping spells. A Dragon King lifted his head from a mountain's peaks. The hidden covens glanced at Endora with unease. Invisible eyes turned toward the broken silhouette of what used to be one of the Twelve Great Wonders.
Rumors were already being born. A new Demon Lord. A Trapper in battle. The destruction of the Sycamore Tree of Endora.
But the indigo and cerulean flames dancing around me blurred my exact identity. My silhouette flickered like an evil mirage wrapped in blacklight. They could taste the divine energy saturating the atmosphere, though. Oh, they would never forget that taste. Even if Taurus's signature was being drowned under mine like a whisper during a nuke's detonation.
Speaking of whispers.
Taurus was shittin' himself.
I didn't need mind-reading to see it. The involuntary backward steps. The trembling in his calves. Sweat beading along his ivory brow despite the divine fire cloaking him. His nostrils flared, breathing unevenly.
Inside his head, panic screamed.
"I don't get it! How is his magick constantly growing in power?"
"It doesn't make any sense. No Soul Core should grow at that speed. It's impossible to handle such a conversion."
The confusion poisoned him. I watched it curdle into anger. Unbridled fear always needed a mask.
"I'm the predator, here," he barked, voice cracking under strain. "I'm the dominant one, Devil. I will not meet death at your hands."
I tilted my head slightly, eyes glowing through the gankyrils.
"Spoiler alert," I said evenly. "You're not gonna like the ending to this."
His hysteria peaked.
[Heaven's Rage] detonated around him in a violent bloom of scarlet and gold. Divine flames erupted from his body, twisting upward in furious spirals. The ground beneath us quaked—an echo felt two thousand miles away. The air filled with the smell of something hellish and copper, like burning blood and ozone. Heat distorted the space around him in rippling waves.
He roared, and the sound tore at the night.
I didn't give a damn.
Behind me, I heard Alex's voice, small against the chaos. "You still think you could have beaten him, Luda?"
"I would have killed him already," Luda replied flatly. "Xiro likes to play around too much."
I almost smirked.
"Playing around? Bet."
It was time to show off something new.
"From the Heatdeath, with Love—[Guardian Armament: White Empress]," I murmured.
Astral Mana, Devil Mana, and Ice Mana condensed over my nose and mouth, weaving together into a sleek black mask. It formed like a liquid shadow freezing into glass. Two sets of white and indigo rings spiraled around my forearms, hovering just above my skin like gauntlets forged from blacklight and glacial mist. My shins received the same treatment—slick, elegant leg guards humming with silent authority.
I inhaled deeply.
The air smelled... different.
Pleasant. Cool. Familiar. It cut through my anger like fresh snowfall on scorched earth. There was a subtle fragrance there—feminine, composed, steady. It cleared my head without dulling my rage. And then it clicked.
"Are you ready, Victorya?"
When I exhaled, frosty mist spilled from the side vents of my mask, curling into the night air.
Inside me, her voice answered.
"Let's kick his ass, Your Highness."
Deep. Smoky. Sultry. No warmth. Just devotion. It felt like loyalty at the end of the universe. Like someone standing beside you as the last star died. Even knee-deep in vengeance for Omnia, I welcomed that feeling. It steadied me.
Across the arena, Taurus's eyes widened. He recognized it.
A Genesis Weapon. Another Guardian Armament.
And to the Angels' knowledge, Omnia had been my only one.
But what unsettled him more was the shift in my magickal pressure. It dipped. Calmed. Focused while becoming colder.
"You feel weaker," he sneered, though his voice wavered. "Did your little tantrum finally tire you out?"
"I know you're stalling," I replied calmly. "Trying to stabilize that divine energy pouring through you."
"Shut your mouth!" he roared. "You're nothing to me! You understand that!"
I didn't answer.
I widened my stance. Ultramarine, indigo, and crimson mana flooded the gankyrils covering my irises. The rotating rings of color inside them spun faster, reflecting him in fractured prisms. That silent rebuttal pissed him off even more.
"Threat to all of the Heavens, feel the wrath of our Elohim!"
"RAAARRGGH!"
He blitzed.
One moment, he stood across the pit. Next, he was in my face with a haymaker meant to fold continents. I caught it. His fist landed in my palm with a thunderous clap. Then I activated [Thermal Removal].
The temperature of his right arm dropped to absolute zero. Not cold, my nigga.
Zero.
The sound it made wasn't a crack. It was a crystalline scream. His limb frosted over in a split second, black ice crawling up to his shoulder before—
The sudden energy differential fractured the frozen lattice.
Shatter.
His entire arm exploded into shards of translucent ice, scattering across the battlefield like fallen glass.
His war cry became a shriek. I stepped forward and gave him a three-piece.
Left jab to the sternum—boom.
Right cross to the ribs—boom.
Hook to the muzzle—boom.
Each strike detonated small bursts of Ice Mana and Devil Mana on impact. The explosions weren't fiery—they were implosive. Black hellfrost rippled across his chest where my fists touched him.
And because I made physical contact? [Tokyo Diamonds] activated.
He slid across the stone, boots carving trenches into the cracked surface. He struggled to stand, divine aura flickering violently.
His magickal pressure tried to rise again.
He looked at the stump where his arm had been.
"What the hell is happening?" he gasped. "What happened to my rage boost?"
He flexed, trying to trigger regeneration.
Nothing.
"My limb—it won't grow back. I know I'm triggering the skill!"
"That won't help you," I said, walking toward him slowly. "My [White Empress] will freeze anything. Even the immortality of an Angel."
Panic flooded his face.
Real panic.
I felt the despair radiating off him like heat from asphalt. It tasted sweet. Worth every second I'd spent trapped in that labyrinth. Worth every hour that led up to that night.
I had finally broken him.
"Not just a threat…" he muttered, trembling. "You could be a virus. This entire world has to be destroyed for the safety of Paradiso!"
With his remaining left arm, he conjured seven floating rings of Omnis Mana into his palm.
Each ring rotated independently, layered in iridescent light. The pressure coming off them was insane—each one held enough destructive force to evaporate a blue sun. They hummed with annihilation.
I recognized it. He'd used this on me once before. Back at Goblin's Cave. Back when I wasn't ready. Now? Shit was different.
I was the bully on the battlefield.
Behind me, Alex's voice tightened. "Aye, Luda, we need to move. That's going to hurt if we get hit with it."
"It might kill us," Luda answered calmly. "But I'll be damn if I move with Xiro here. If he lets me die, he's a trash king. And he'll have to live with the memory of my last words eating at him for eternity."
"I can't tell if you're playing right now or if you're being dead serious."
"Stay and watch the show, Alex. You're about to miss something really cool."
Taurus thrust his palm forward.
"Be destroyed, scum! Omnis Mana Arts: May Showers!"
The seven rings merged into one rotating sigil and unleashed a concentrated cannon of Omnis Mana. Iridescent light tore through the air, burning reality as it traveled. Space peeled away in its wake.
But to my sight?
The speed of light was lazy. I extended my hand. I froze its momentum mid-flight. The beam halted like it hit invisible glass. Then I iced the quarks inside the magickal energy. Entropy dropped to zero. Black ice spread across the beam's surface, creeping backward toward Taurus's palm. The divine pressure vanished instantly, like someone muted existence.
The entire attack became a frozen sculpture of annihilation suspended in the air. He stared at it. He couldn't even process what he'd seen. I didn't let him try.
I vanished.
I reappeared under him and drove a savage uppercut into his chin.
The impact launched him straight into the sky. The shockwave shattered the remaining ice beneath us. He became a streak against the stars.
He didn't stop ascending for twelve full seconds.
Up there, in the upper atmosphere of Gaia, his body trembled from spiritual pain. Not just physical damage. Soul-deep fractures. He finally regained clarity—
—and felt it.
Below him.
Back atop the Sycamore stump, I was compressing star-destroying levels of energy between my palms. Indigo-black mana spiraled into a dense orb, electricity cracking wildly around it. Devil Mana and Anti-Mana fused together, consumed each other in perfect balance.
The air screamed.
"Die, bitch ass nigga! Anti-Mana Arts: Collapsing Star Breaker!"
My [Kaleidoscope Eyes] blazed.
I fired.
A beam of ultramarine abyssal light erupted from my hands, ripping through the sky like a spear thrown by a dying deity. It didn't travel. It didn't chase.
It simply devoured.
It swallowed the distance between us instantly.
Taurus didn't even have time to scream.
The beam hit him and unraveled his existence down to the atomic structure. His divine matter peeled away in layers, consumed by antimatter conversion. There was no defense. No counter. The explosion that followed birthed a miniature supernova in the upper atmosphere.
For a moment—
It looked like dawn.
A false sunrise washed across Gaia's surface. The shockwave punched a visible hole through Gaia's planetary rings, scattering fragments of cosmic dust into brilliant arcs of refracted light. Across Arcadia, Humans and Sociovores alike saw it. They recorded it. They whispered about it. And later?
Those whispers would find their way back to me.
The sky above us held new colors for just a little while longer.
Red, yellow, and magenta streaked across the night like someone had painted over the stars with the last breath of a dying sun. The light rippled and shimmered where my attack had detonated, a fading scar left behind by pure destruction. It was beautiful in a way that only violence could be. A quiet exhale after something catastrophic.
And then it was gone. Taurus's mana signature vanished completely. No flicker. No residue. No soul thread trying to stitch itself back together.
Just... absence from the nightlight.
His body, his spirit, his presence. All of it was erased from reality like he'd never existed at all.
Dead for real.
I looked up as the mask removed itself from my face, dissolving into spiriton dust that floated off into the warm night air. Sweat cooled across my skin. My chest rose and fell slowly as I stared up at the fading colors, pride thick in my lungs. The air smelled like smoke, blood, and something sharp and metallic. Victory sat heavily on my shoulders.
Footsteps crunched over broken stone behind me.
Luda and Alex came up on either side, both looking up at the sky like kids watching fireworks.
"That felt so fucking good," I muttered.
"Don't you ever use that against me in a sparring match," Alex shot back, eyes still wide.
Luda tilted his head, studying the hole torn through the planetary rings above. "Do you think the sky rings will be okay with the missing section like that?"
Alex snorted. "Yeah, that'll be fine. I'm sure nobody will even notice it."
"Holy shit! Why did you fuck up the sky rings?"
The voice came outta nowhere.
I turned, and there he was.
Like he'd been standing there the whole time, my baby brother Steez stared up at the sky with his mouth halfway open. His mana signature had just arrived, blasting into the air like it had been sprinting to catch up. He still had on that crimson red gi I made for him, looking battle-ready. With his superspeed and time-freezing ability, finding us in Endora must've been light work.
"Whoa, Steez? When did you get here?" Alex asked, blinking.
"Steezy, where the hell have you been?" Luda added, folding his arms.
Steez finally tore his eyes from the sky and grinned. "I was at the crib when I felt Xi's signature. And how intense it was, I knew he was somewhere fun. So I came to be nosy."
I rubbed the back of my neck. "I was that loud, huh?"
He laughed under his breath. "I get here to find out you're booming on Taurus, it looked like. Nigga, you know I wanted to slide on that fuckboy."
"I ran my ones with him before Xi killed him," Luda said, shrugging.
Steez's head snapped toward him. "Damn, even L got to spin the block? That's fucked up, Xi."
"Stick around," I said, rolling my shoulders loose. "The party isn't over just yet."
Alex let out a tired breath. "It's been one hell of a night, Steez."
"I got here during the latter half," Luda replied. "Hasn't been boring, yet."
Steez looked around, finally noticing the devastation. The broken stump of the Sycamore. The exposed floors. The cratered battlefield.
"So what happened to this big ass tree?"
Luda and Alex both raised a hand at the same time.
"Xi."
They pointed at me in unison.
I rolled my eyes. "These niggas..."
Steez just shook his head, chuckling. They caught him up quickly, feeding him the highlight reel through his [Memory Collection] skill. I watched his eyes flicker as he processed everything. I was lowkey shocked he still had that skill after I mutated his Vessel Skill, but that was a question for another day.
That's when I felt it.
A sensation brushed against my senses like a fingertip on the back of my neck.
I knew it instantly.
Without even looking, I flicked a bolt of Devil Mana into the air. It struck a falling white feather glowing with divine energy and erased it on contact. My [Heaven's Kaleidoscope] kicked in, catching the movement that followed.
I turned.
He was already there. Orion stood a short distance away, clapping slowly as he approached. A trail of white feathers floated behind him like a silent snowfall.
No angelic wings. No divine halo.
Just a tall, milky pale man with piercing blue eyes and chestnut brown hair. His beard blended into the dark brown three-piece suit he wore like he'd just stepped out of some executive meeting. The light of the three moons reflected off his glasses, illuminating the sinister smile sitting on his face.
"Very impressive, Demon Lord Mikazuki," he said smoothly. "Or should I say Devil of Velonica?"
I locked a hard leer onto him. [Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi] was already scanning.
"Finally," I said. "I thought I was going to have to come to you."
"You've been fun to watch, new reaper," he replied. "But you're still just an imitation compared to the original Abraxas, Lord Xero. Just like all the others."
Behind me, Steez leaned in close to Luda and Alex without taking his eyes off Orion.
"Yo, who is that?"
"The next fight," Luda murmured.
Alex swallowed. "His mana signature is insane. I hope y'all are ready. We're gonna have to jump him."
Steez nodded once. "Say less."
I stepped forward, eyes narrowing.
"Orion, you have something that belongs to me. Don't make me ask twice."
He tilted his head slightly. "You speak my name as if you remember me. But I know you don't. I've only met the true Abraxas once. And that was thirteen Stellar Kingdom Cycles ago."
To be honest, I didn't give a damn about whatever he was saying.
I was already moving.
[Dominus Desidiae] snapped into place. Time stopped. Completely.
I teleported beside him, pushing tachyon movement to the limit as I aimed to break every law of speed in one strike.
Still. He reacted. Even in frozen time, Orion's head turned, tracking my movement. His bare hand came up and redirected my attack like he was brushing off dust. Then he noticed something off. His defense relaxed for a fraction of a second as he brushed through the afterimage I'd left behind.
Another false attack came from his blindside.
He finally felt it. His mind flared with a burst of Divinity Mana, clearing the illusion from his senses just in time for reality to snap back into place. And me. Waiting under his nose. I drove a heavy right punch straight into his jaw.
The air exploded. The entire surrounding countryside shook in reaction to the sound of the impact. The icy shockwave cleared the nearby forest canopy in a wide circle, leaves and branches ripping free. The thunderclap echoed across the night. Orion's body slid across the stone until he landed beside Kiranna's headless corpse.
Still, he managed to counter.
A backhand caught me across the face as we separated.
He stood there, gently rubbing his jaw, then reached up and removed his cracked glasses. He studied the fracture running across the lens.
"Hiding in the shadows of an illusion is a brilliant tactic," he said calmly. "Yet, it will not be enough to compare to the true Abraxas."
I brushed my thumb across my nose and pushed air through it.
Inside, [Moon Sage: Tsukuyomi] chimed in.
"With the assistance of Belial, our dual [Appraisal] was successful. We have the frequency of the private dimension where he's holding Omnia."
"Good."
"That was just a temperature check, pretty boy," I said. "But first, I need to retrieve something important."
Orion smiled faintly.
"You want her so bad, then take her from me. Disable—[Fallen Death: Samael]."
Everything went quiet.
The hum of mana inside my body vanished.
He severed my Soul Core's magickal connection to my body.
My aura disappeared.
[Heaven's Kaleidoscope] faded from my eyes. [White Empress] shattered into motes of spiriton light. The battlefield felt hollow. Empty.
Steez's voice cut through the silence. "Oh damn."
Alex frowned. "Am I trippin' or is Xiro's signature suddenly..."
"You two, prepare yourself," Luda said in a low voice. "We may need to jump in."
I glanced down at my left hand.
Nothing.
No magick. No Vessel Skills. No endless current of Bio Mana buzzing through my veins. Just flesh and bone.
Orion stepped closer, studying me.
"How does it feel to no longer have your access to mana? To have all of your power removed from the field of play, effortlessly. Is it frightening?"
He smiled, cruelly.
"You may house the Abraxas's code, but you will never reach his level of power. You're just a caricature Omnia manufactured to spit in the face of her mother."
I stood there, quiet. I wasn't scared. I'd been here before. Zero Tàiyáng had tried the same thing with his [Solar Midnight: Baal]. It tried to separate me from my abilities. Orion's skill did it differently. Attempting to delete my connection outright.
Yet, I wasn't afraid. I was motherfuckin' vexed.
The twisted idea that two people thought they could decide when I had access to my own magick... that shit rubbed me the wrong way. That forced loss of control burned deep in my chest. And then something inside my Soul Core snapped. A skill with a unique triggering.
[Lawbreaker] activated.
"Shut yo' lame ass up!" I fired back, voice sharp.
My gankyrils slammed back over my irises as [Heaven's Kaleidoscope] forced itself active again. Vision sharpened. Reality peeled open. I looked slightly beside Orion and saw it.
His hidden pocket dimension.
Holding what was mine.
His expression shifted. "Those eyes, again…"
"Omnia, it's time you brought your ass home! [Master's Recall]."
[Lawbreaker] allowed me to ignore the very concept of rules. So I ignored the system. Ignored Orion's authority. Ignored the idea that anyone else could tell me when I could use my power. They had me fucked up.
My mana signature detonated back into existence like a bomb going off.
"You've got me fucked up thinking you can control anything in my life."
I stretched out my hand and ripped open reality beside him. Spatial Mana tore space apart into a jagged portal. I reached in and grabbed hold of the Kiss of Twilight, still sealed in its defensive barrier.
"Very impressive," Orion said quietly.
The bastard sword shot toward me.
The shell shattered mid-flight, spiritons bursting free.
And then she was there. Returning to her original form.
Omnia.
Midnight-black hair flowing behind her, arms spreading wide as she came to me. Her lavender-tinted face lit up with pure joy.
"Lova! What took you so long?"
Her dark, seductive voice was honey to my ears. She landed in my arms, pressing close, kissing across my face in quick, relieved bursts. I held her tight, breathing her in, grounding myself in her vanilla-and-jasmine scent. Orion was still going to catch a fade.
But first, I had what mattered most to me back in my arms.
[End of Chapter]
[1] April on Earth